Right now I’m fishing Lindholme Lakes a lot and the fish won’t look at a soft pellet. They want a hard banded pellet every time, and if you want to learn how to use a banded hair-rigged pellet my way, buy a bag of Sonubaits Fin Perfect 6mm or 4mm feed pellets and follow my tips.

So how do you band a pellet?
The things you will need are a packet of micro bands, some PR36 hooks and some hooklength line.
The first step is to tie the band to the end of a piece of hook-length line. I do it by passing the line through the band twice and then tying a half bloodknot. The important thing is to pull that knot tight and I do this by pulling the band almost to breaking point. The knot bites when the elastic is at its finest, but when you relax the band the knot digs in to the elastic and will not come undone.
Then thread the other end of the line through the eye of the PR36 and tie your knotless knot. Now you are ready to tie the hook-length to your main line and get fishing.
Another question I am asked is which floats I use when decking a banded hard pellet. I use two types, the PB Inter 1s for pegs up to five feet deep, and the PB Inter 2s for pegs between five feet and 10 feet. I also prefer the Inter 2s, for their stability, when it is windy.